Lukaku seems certain to go. There's no disputing he's been far and away the best striker we've had in the PL but despite all the goals he's scored because of his attitude pretty much the whole time since he's been here I've got no emotional attachment to him at all. I fully understand his view he just didn't need to be talking about it the whole time. Sick of it all and will be glad to move on. We won't get a direct replacement as good as him but the team as a whole can be stronger (see Lineker and Rooney)

Barkley - Not really bothered if he goes either. Just hasn't got the brains. Won't go on to be as good as hoped. One of the most infuriating players I've ever watched in terms of his lax attitude when he needs to going and getting games by the scruff of the neck.

Incoming.

Pickford. Highly rated. I've not seen enough of him to know but I like the fact we've identified the position needs strengthening so we've identified our number one target and gone and got him without any messing round re: price.

Sandro is a Malaga striker who has a low release clause of about £5m and came from Barca. Atletico seemed to be interested and they have an eye for upcoming strikers. Could be a fantastic bargain.

Davy Klassen - Again not seen much of him but seems to be similar to a Cahill type player who will pop up in the box at the right time scoring important goals.

Centre half - Keane is back on the radar again. I think we need to someone who can come in to partner, probably Williams, but by the end of the season is good enough to help integrate Holgate into the team.

Left back - Baines is still decent but I don't want to be in a position where he just loses it half way through the season (Distin / Howard) and we don't have a ready made replacement. I get a young player to come in who initially wont expect to be first choice but by the end of the season could be.

There was a big gap between us and the top 6. If we can get into that the top 6 there wasn't a lot between the rest of them so just making that jump is the big thing. I think realistically just seriously being in contention for the top 4 till the end of the season, but ultimately missing out, would be a good league season. Cup would be nice, Good run in the Europa and please god a derby win!

These games will make or break the season. We could recover from it but if we don't do well out of these then the top 6 will be an immediate write off.

If we lose 4 of our first 5 while it makes it harder I still don't think it's make or break - I fall into that trap too thinking if you lose a few games on the bounce the season is over but it's not. The season really is a marathon and a lot can change.

We only got 3 points from those hard 4 last year anyway. It's our away results against the other 13 teams we need to and can improve on that can make a big difference.